Stanley Jedidiah Samartha (Kannada: ಸ್ಟಾನ್ಲಿ ಜೆದಿದಿಃ ಸಮರ್ಥ; 7 October 1920 – 22 July 2001) was an Indian theologian and a participant in inter-religious dialogue.Samartha's major contribution was through the World Council of Churches sub-unit "Dialogue with People of Living Faiths and Ideologies" of which he was the first Director.Western Scholars on Hinduism like Jan Peter Schouten brings Samartha in the line of thinking of M. M.